The New Order comes
by bhut
Summary: The adventures of Bo and others after Eva's failed revolution.
1. Chapter 1

**The New Order comes (part 1) **

_Disclaimer: Almost none of the characters are mine, but belong to Showcase™._

The berserker was running. The berserker was running not knowing truly where he ran, nor caring. The berserker had neither wants to needs just a great big void inside that demanded to be filled with... something. But so far, there was only nothing, and that was nowhere near enough.

A branch cracked off to his right; an ululating night bird flew off into the night. Following same remaining basic instinct, the berserker whirled and that direction and stared into a pair of very green, definitely Fay eyes.

Suddenly, the great void inside the berserker was filled with something indeed.

"So, Bo, what are our plans for tonight?"

"Same as we have every night, Kenzie – go to Trick's, and – oh."

"Yeah, oh," Kenzie agreed, readily. "I don't know if we should hang out there for a while. Trickster's a strange guy – sometimes he sounded like a really decent guy, and sometimes – like a real jerk. But then again – what's left out there?"

"Sorry?" Bo asked, even as she put on her street footwear and jacket. "What're you saying?"

"I'm saying that we've got no social life, really. Unless we got clients, we're at Trick's bar, with Dyson and Hale. Guess we've got no choice and have to go there all the same, our feelings for the barkeep notwithstanding."

"Well, that's not true," Bo protested, instinctively. "I mean, we can go anywhere, hang out with anyone, and-"

"And odds are that Dyson or Hale will catch us hanging out with a new guy or girl and go all jealous. Well, Dyson will – Hale will probably want to be in on the action, which is worse, probably."

"You know, it's funny that you mentioned a girl – I promised Lauren that I'll go and have that talk after we've dealt with Eva," Bo said, thoughtfully. "Now that we have done it, to some extent or another, it's time to have that talk with her. Of course, you can always go elsewhere and prove Trick wrong-"

"Hey, when I pointed out that we have no social life, I didn't mean it as a bad thing... well, maybe I did, but not completely," Bo said lamely, unwilling to go somewhere on her own. "I mean, when we met, I was stealing purses from complete strangers, and got fed a date-rape drug from one of them. If you haven't come to save the day-"

"Yeah," Bo said with a fond smile, "these were the days. It seems so long ago, now."

"Yeah, time sure flies when you're having fun, and by 'fun' I mean fighting for your life with the Fay and what-not," Kenzie agreed, easily. "We really should invest in a calendar, seeing how we're not exactly Misses Punctuality, either one of us."

"I thought we had one on our bathroom door."

"Bo, we replaced it sometime around when the spider thing that wouldn't die tried to kill us, and the Ash's merry men tried to fry us alongside it."

"Oh. I guess the calendar went along with the old door?"

"You bet – now it's off to see the fair Lauren, for time and tide wait for no one!"

As the Morrigan, flanked by her bodyguards, rapidly walked – almost trotted – through the corridors, she could already hear the opening lines of the meeting, damn that gremlin:

"Lords and ladies! Gentlefolk of both courts! We have gathered today to commiserate those, who had fallen in battle and to elect the new faces for our courts-"

Crash! The Morrigan preferred not to physically exert herself, leaving that to her bodyguards, but in case of an emergency, she was quite willing to take things into her own hands.

"Lords and ladies! Gentlefolk of both courts!" she proclaimed grandly, with a smile that had just a tad too many teeth, "what a _pleasure_ it is to see you! I'm sure that my invitation as the head of the Dark Fay got lost in the mail in all the commotion, no?"

There was nothing but incredulous silence, as the Morrigan just stood there, looking at the Meeting of Elders with those bright eyes of hers. Finally, it was broken by the same elder who had begun to speak, when the Morrigan had barged in:

"We thought that you were dead-"

"Just like that idiot, who was, apparently, as lobotomized in mind, as he was neutered in body?" the Morrigan interrupted, still smiling brightly. "That's the Ash, of course, for if there's another idiot in our city, who's just as stupid, I don't want to know about them."

"You would've never dared to say such things in public, were he present!" another Elder spoke up, a small, whitish being with eyes as red as those of an albino rat. "The Ash-"

"The Ash not only grossly underestimated the threat posed by Eva, he also neglected his own protection," the Morrigan cut in once again. "Just what sort of a leader is that, I ask you? And while you're pondering this question, venerable Elders, I would like to put in my request to be recognized as the dominant of our city...at least until the Ash has recovered sufficiently enough to challenge me proper."

"And just what skeleton in your closet have you discovered this time, 'The Morrigan' to prove that your blood is worthy of such honour? Yet another irrefutable proof that links you to your renowned namesake of yore?"

That was an open challenge – right in the face. "Let's see," the Morrigan said softly, the softness belying her inner rage. "Roughly thirteen years ago, a chaos mage came into our city, pursued by a byakhee. The Ash, in yet another fit of his so-called brilliance, decided to get involved in that conflict, even though he wasn't asked for assistance, and it ended in failure, for he failed to convince the byakhee to join the light. Sometime later the situation changed, and the byakhee came here again, on a different mission. By diplomacy, I managed to succeed where the Ash had failed, and – here he is, right behind me," and the Morrigan jabbed her thumb into the shadows, which prompted the taller of her new bodyguard to come forwards, grinning (rather like a demented hyena who had seen a flock of fat and unprotected sheep).

"By this deed, and not by my blood," the Morrigan continued, in silence, "I stake my claim as the dominant of our city!"

The words 'challenge me at your own peril' remained unsaid, but the Fay Elders heard them loud and clear all the same, and began to nod quickly in agreement instead. Only the initial challenger would not back down.

"I have heard of that so-called byakhee," he spoke, albeit more shrilly than before. "The Ash claimed that he had turned it into a centipede!"

"Ah yes, the centipede," now the Morrigan's smile was now almost gentle, or even pitying. "If you will?"

The bodyguard snapped his own fingers. Immediately, a huge centipede, longer than an average Fay was tall, dropped from the ceiling, all chitinous legs, and mandibles, and eyes that twinkled as tiny, distant, white-hot stars.

"As you can see," the bodyguard spoke for the first time, in a seemingly pleasant, mellow tone that nevertheless sent chills down his audience's spines, "I overpowered the Ash's spell and gave it substance of its own. Please, feel free to dismiss it by your own spell!"

For several moments the speaker stared at the giant centipede, and then lowered his head in submission. "Very well, you're accepted. The Elders' council recognizes your claim and accepts it."

"Thank you," the Morrigan lowered her lashes in a show of humility. "I'll make sure that you won't regret your choice, honoured elders."

"You realize, of course, that when the Ash will recover, or when we will find a suitable replacement for his position, you will be challenged?"

"But of course I do," the Morrigan nodded, "and, hopefully, by that time I will prove my competency to you as well."

The jezinka was confused – something that she hadn't been in many decades, if not centuries. "Just what _am_ I to do with you?" she slowly asked her prisoner, rhetorically. "Somebody had gutted your spirit so extensively, that even my ministrations were beneficial. From your markings I see that you're from the opposite side, but not even the Morrigan's mesmers could do something so extensive. Therefore, does this mean that I care? Not even slightly! But... you can come handy... oh yes, yes you can!"

As Bo and Kenzie approached Lauren's Fay hospital, they could see that something was wrong: there were too many new faces around that place, and there was the underlying vibe in the air – not precisely hostile, but rather uncomfortable all the same.

On the other hand, Bo and Kenzie didn't exactly call out on this vibe either, but by an unspoken agreement sort of walked closer to each other as they approached Lauren's place – ever so slowly.

"Are you sure that tonight is the night to confront Lauren – I mean talk to her?" Kenzie asked her friend, _sotto voce_. "I mean, is it just me, or are there a lot more hungry grins in the neighbourhood at the moment? You think they know how you were involved in Eva's plot?"

"I was not involved in Eva's plot – she did it without my knowledge! I mean, not that my knowledge would change anything, 'cause I was in no position to-" Bo stopped, as her ears suddenly caught the sound of someone speaking – and that someone was rather familiar.

"...seven years as a bird of air, seven years as fish of water, seven years as a stone of earth, and seven years working here, that I believe," the Morrigan was speaking to Lauren as if they were sitting somewhere sipping tea as opposed to here and now. "This is your final stretch of time, isn't it?"

"Yes," Lauren nodded tersely, not knowing what to expect from her interlocutrix. "What of it?"

"Your ladyship," the Morrigan smiled slightly, causing Lauren's skin to crawl. "I have taken over the Ash's position for now, and hopefully I'll do a better job of it than he had. Of course, since it's the Ash we're talking about, this is practically a given. And this brings us back to you, across the sea of time, when you were working at the hospital of your race, and an idiot of the Ash brought his human girlfriend, thinking... well, he probably wasn't thinking at all. The children born from the mingling of our races are quite distinct, aren't they?"

"What is your point?" Lauren said, still terse. "Your ladyship?"

"Essentially, the Ash – smarting from a setback that wasn't even related to you – decided to make you into an example of his wrath instead. I won't go into what has happened to the idiot and his human family, but you, well, you have had almost have thirty years of experience, haven't you?"

Lauren opened her mouth, then closed it and shook her head. "You really don't get it?" the Morrigan continued. "The Ash may have been happy with you working for us under the geas, but I'm not...and the geas' time is almost up anyways. So, to continue to work here you'll have to swear loyalty to the dominant of this city – who is me. Or before long you'll have your debt finally paid and then you'll be free of us. Now, I know that you may not consider this a punishment at all, so I'm giving you some time to figure it out, say a-"

The phone rang, interrupting what the Morrigan had to say. Both Fay and human stared at it, until Lauren tentatively picked it up. "Hello?" she said into receiver.

That's when it all got worse.

"Well, well, well, look who came in, and of their own volition," the hatefully familiar voice spoke from behind Bo and Kenzie, startling them both. "I guess you girls didn't know that that is our turf, now?"

"Vex," Bo turned and faced the dark Fay with something suspiciously like disgust in her face. "I'm not sure how this became the territory of your kind, but it doesn't seem to be your scene, precisely."

"It's not," Vex easily agreed, "but because the Morrigan requires the presence of at least one Mesmer nearby, this job came to me, her favourite."

"You mean there are others, who are less favourite?" Kenzie piped up from behind Bo.

A rather ugly grimace distorted Vex's face, and this could have gone very bad, when the doors to Lauren's examination room were flung open and out came the Morrigan, her face red from anger. "Vex!" she yelled loudly.

"Here!" Vex almost squeaked. "You called?"

But the Morrigan was back to ignoring him once again, focusing her attention on Bo and Kenzie, and neither were particularly happy about it. Neither was Vex, actually, but that was beside the point.

"Ah," the Morrigan said, "if it isn't Bo-Peep who lost her ship. Will you find a boat or do you want to float?"

"...Nice rhyme," said Bo, when it became obvious that everyone was waiting for her reply. "Did you think it in advance or on the spot?"

"In advance," the Morrigan shrugged. "That's not what I wanted to talk you about right now, though. See, a certain jezinka who is upset with me has captured one of the light Fay, apparently, and is holding him hostage unless I comply with her demands. I have no intention to, and so how would you feel like going over to her and kicking Rogana's ass?"

"This sounds unlikely on so many levels that it's obvious," Bo shook her head. "Care to press your point?"

"Certainly," the Morrigan laughed, but it _was_ noticeable that her laughter had a rather fragile edge in it. "How to begin? The Council of Elders had all but buried me in deed, and they were probably starting to pick the colour of the wreaths they were to put onto my grave, when I proved that I was quite alive, hearty and hale, unlike their favourite, the Ash. I have also showed them proof that I have the right to be the dominant of this city, whatever their sentiment might be. Consequently, they'll be looking for anyone to oppose me."

"And this brings us to me?" Bo said, sharply.

"Essentially, yes," the Morrigan shrugged."Soon enough you'll be under much more pressure than before, and honestly, if you think that you'll be able to be an independent third party in a Republican-Democrat political race – you're mistaken."

"Nice analogy," Bo said, slowly, "and something to think about. Now about that Rogana – if she's dark, can't you just order her around?"

"It's trickier than it looks," the Morrigan said, "as the dominant of the city, I'm responsible for the entire Fay that live here – including you, possibly. Since me confronting Rogana means that her hostage can get hurt, I cannot confront her directly, and am sending Vex in my stead. Of course, you can also come along if you want," the Morrigan smiled one more time and turned to leave. "Oh, and Vex?"

"Yes?" the other dark Fay said, warily.

"You mess it up – I'll have you eaten," the Morrigan said and left.

Vex blanched – this clearly was no idle threat.

"Let's just go," Bo whispered quietly to Kenzie, and the pair left.

_To be continued..._


	2. Chapter 2

**The new order comes (part 2)**

_Disclaimer: Some of the characters are mine, but most belong to Showcase™._

"Bo? Where are we retreating to?" Kenzie carefully asked, as they left Lauren and the other Fay behind them.

"Retreating?" Bo raised an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah – I mean, the other word would be fleeing with our tails between our legs, but that's not us, is it?"

"No," Bo shook her head. "I would rather retreat somewhere to think it all over and figure out what to do, but..."

"But?" Kenzie carefully repeated the last word.

"But I doubt that on our own we'll be able to come up with anything. With Dyson missing and Trick... well," Bo shook her head. "Hale right now is our best source of information. We'll need to talk to him about... well, just talk!"

"And since Hale works in the police – including the Fay police," Kenzie added, catching on.

"Exactly," Bo nodded, and the two went to catch up to Vex. Apparently, the Morrigan's threat to have him eaten (probably not by her _personally_, but still), was very effective in spurring him into action – they were able to catch up to him only at the parking lot.

"So, you two decided to come?" he said, looking not any happier about this development than Bo and Kenzie. "About time. Here's the address. Follow the leader or do your independent thing – I don't care."

Bo opened her mouth to retort, when she noticed that Kenzie had noticeably stiffened besides her. "What," she asked carefully, "is wrong?"

"I know this house," Kenzie had almost snarled. "This is my cousin's house. This means my cousin is in... trouble." She shifted her stance and looked at Bo in a way that was very serious and not really like her at all. "Bo, my cousin and I, we don't get along. But family's family-"

"Let's go," Bo just nodded in reply. Vex – though _he_ wasn't asked about anything – also opened his mouth to say something, but Bo and Kenzie just looked at him, and he fell silent.

(It wasn't that he was afraid of some succubus and her human friend, but their looks brought back memories of earlier times, when he and the Morrigan were just working out their professional relationship, and he had no intent of reliving these memories any time soon.)

"Let's go," was all that Kenzie said, tensely. "Now."

The jezinka was getting nervous. She has contacted the Morrigan, but a completely different, unknown person has picked up the phone! This was not according to her plan! This meant that something was wrong! As far as the Fay went, the jezinkas were not particularly good at thinking on their feet, so now she felt a strong urge to retreat, taking her newfound 'friend' with her.

But then the memory of her previous defeat by the Morrigan came back. This was unacceptable; the Morrigan was too young, too weak to have succeeded her so completely. No, this infamy had to be erased, and if this was the right way to do it, she was going to take it!

One of the humans that she had stunned started to recover. The jezinka looked outside and frowned. The light Fay. What were _they_ doing here?"

"So, Kenzie, is there anything you want to tell me?" Bo carefully said, as they drove through the city streets.

"Less than you would think," the latter admitted. "Me and my cousin... we don't talk much. He's older than I, is safely married, and has a son and daughters – triplets. My nephew and nieces, essentially."

"Aunt Kenzie. Sounds interesting," Bo slowly said. "My step-parents didn't have any parents other than me. I was so jealous of the other kids in my school."

"Yeah? Well, believe me, it's a lot less fun than it sounds, especially when you have to babysit several stinking bundles of diapers and drool," Kenzie sighed. "Oh, whom am I kidding? I always found them adorable. If that – whatever it is – has hurt them, I'm going to make it eat its own throat, not to mention the rest of its body's parts. And as for you being an only child...well, your mom's a succubus too, maybe she has other kids."

There was a pause as Kenzie and Bo thought over the concept of Eva having other children. "Okay, that's kind of scary, actually," Kenzie admitted. "Your mom... I'm sure she has her good qualities, but she was also kind of intimidating – creepy, even. If any of your sisters or brothers have inherited her temper, things could get tricky."

"In Trick's book, succubae can only have daughters," Bo shook her head. "Well, mostly daughters. When it came to the incubi, things were a bit vague."

"So, you may have some big sisters," Kenzie shrugged. "That might still be fun. They'll you Bo-Pip, and tweak your nose, and-"

"Your cousin, Kenzie, will be okay, just as the rest of his family," Bo exclaimed with more certainty than how she felt. "I promise."

"They'd better!" Kenzie replied, fiercely. "Or else there's going to be a lynching... hey, who are all of those people?"

"Kenzie," Bo said slowly, as she felt that their rescue just gotten even worse, "I think that that's Hale. This means that there are two answers to your question, and we won't like either of them."

Kenzie twitched.

For a long time – ever since he began to work in the police force as Dyson's partner – Hale didn't feel miserable or concerned regarding what the future would bring to him. He was now. The Ash – who once looked so solid and unshakable just like his tree namesake – was practically gone, and so was Dyson, leaving Hale on his own. And Hale did not fare well on his own, he needed friends.

What Hale got instead – at least for the moment – was Sabrina. Well, Sabrina and the rest of the posse. Hale did not get along all that well with the Ash's chief enforcer, not since he had broken up with her and began to date Yolanda... who was the Morrigan's secretary. Hmm. Maybe he was more like his relatives that he cared to think, but now so was not time to think that...

"This is ridiculous," Sabrina, meanwhile, was steadily picking on steam. "This Lauren, she calls us just when we were about to resolve this matter personally, by ourselves and tells us that the dark are sending their own people to handle it. Well, where are they?"

Hale kept quiet. Personally, he liked Lauren more than Sabrina (but that wasn't telling – if given the chance he probably would've liked Bo's insane mother more than Sabrina), but if Sabrina would take the Ash's place and eventually challenge the Morrigan for this city, then confronting her will be useless and disastrous.

Some thought began to move in the depths of Hale's mental process, but he didn't have time to figure it out, for the dark Fay have finally appeared on the scene – and Bo with Kenzie were with them.

"Where are they?" Kenzie asked as soon as she and Bo were out of their car. "Where are the people? You know, us humans without any super powers?" Her voice was tense and tingling, like a violin string wound-up too tightly.

Hale didn't have to speak-up at all, but he had started this whole thing, in a matter of speaking, when he had reported it to his superiors, rather than tried to do anything else, so he decided to continue in this vein – just because. "Yes, they're all alright," he said, finally. "At least there's no smell of blood-"

"That's good," Kenzie said tensely, as she made her way past him towards the door. "Then maybe we'll be able to a lynching." With these words she moved towards the door, flanked by Bo.

"And where do you think you're going?" Sabrina spoke at a very wrong time, in Hale's opinion. "This is Fay business, little human."

Kenzie half-shifted around. "I remember you," she spoke in a voice that promised nothing good. "You were the cast-iron nutcase that wanted to burn us down with that spider thing. We're not talking to you. Bo, please?"

"Coming," Bo quickly replied and followed Kenzie into the house.

The door behind them slammed with a bang.

"Well, I don't see any blood, or hear any flies, or see anything wrong," Kenzie said in a shaky voice as she and Bo surveyed the room they found themselves in. "Maybe everything is better than what we've thought?"

"That depends," somebody else replied, as they began to emerge from an upstairs room, "if my daughter is with me."

Bo and Kenzie stared. The woman was dressed rather bizarrely, in a mix of practical, outdoors garb and clearly impractical pink clothing, but this wasn't important – her companion, however, was.

"Dyson," Bo whispered, seeing her (well, it wasn't quite clear, who Dyson was to her, the important thing here that he was hers), "what have happened to you?"

"Someone has explicitly gutted his mind and soul," the stranger helpfully supplied. "Fortunately, he was able to run into me, for I was able to calm him down, using my...skills."

"Of course you have," Bo said flatly. "Now what is your feud with the Morrigan?"

"You don't know? Are you not a dark Fay?" the stranger asked.

"No, I'm neither light nor dark. I'm Bo," Bo said flatly. "The Morrigan isn't willing to negotiate – she sent Vex to take care of you officially, and if he'll mess up, he'll get eaten."

"Vex?" the stranger snorted. "His kind is inferior to mine, believe it! I'm the oldest, the strongest of my kind in this land-"

"Which is why you're hiding behind Dyson and other thralls?" Kenzie snapped. In response, the stranger's green eyes flashed, and the young woman stiffened, apparently paralyzed.

"There," the stranger sniffed, "now that that vermin has been put in its' place, we can now-"

With an almost supernatural burst of speed, Bo got into their adversary's face. "Fix this _now_," she hissed.

"Silly young succubus," was the disdainful reply, and a sea of bright green floated into Bo through her eyes, began to spread through her body, reaching into her heart and soul...

"Silly young succubus," came the whisper through the greenery, "silly young..."

'I'm not silly,' Bo's thoughts stirred sluggishly in her head. 'I have done lots! And this thing is beating me with, with-'

Chakra, was the initial reply. This is what Bo herself, and her mother, tended to do with their kisses and physical contact. And under her mother's influence, Bo learned to exert chakra, as opposed to absorb it. Physical contact _was_ required, but right now Bo's hands were still grasping the other Fay, so...

Bo exhaled. At first it was hard – as if an immense weight was lying on her chest, but then that weight became energy of some sort and it poured from her into the other Fay. And then the other Fay began to scream.

A sudden flare-up of heat caused Bo to stagger away. "You," the dark Fay was hissing, "you dared to fight me with your succubus tricks? Me, Rogana, the eldest of jezinkas? For that I will squash you like a fly!" Her body began to distort – talons sprouted on her hands and feet, goat-like horns on her head and moth-like wings on her back.

"You," the jezinka snarled through a completely inhuman mouth...and then a burst of foam from a fire extinguisher struck her right there.

"Bo, catch!" Kenzie, who had completely recovered from the jezinka's attack, threw Bo a small fire extinguisher.

As Rogana was clearing her eyes and mouth from the foam, Bo caught the missile, and with a word of gratitude to Kenzie slammed the fire extinguisher right on top of their adversary's horned head. The fire extinguisher fell apart in several large pieces. Rogana's head remained whole, but her taloned legs buckled, and she fell – first on her knees and then on her face.

Bo and Kenzie exchanged looks, and then Bo grabbed the jezinka's arms and began to drag her out of the house, with Kenzie gently prodding Dyson along as well.

"Kneel!" was the first word that Bo heard as she emerged from the house, and this word startled her so much, that she didn't respond to it – and that was good, for Vex wasn't talking to her, but to Sabrina, his hands clenched in particular gestures.

For her part, Sabrina wasn't kneeling – not yet. Her body was shuddering from the effort of resistance, sweat was pouring down her face, blood – from her nose, but she wasn't yet kneeling.

"Vex!" Bo yelled loudly. "I got whom you came for!"

This startled Vex long enough for him to break his concentration on the light Fay, and whirl to face Bo – and the jezinka.

"Rogana," he snarled, his own face distorted and inhuman. "Long time no see. The Morrigan will be so pleased to see you – again. Bo, good to see that we got along so well."

"Yes, well, here," Bo thrust Rogana into Vex's grasp and forgot all about the dark Fay. "Hale-"

"Yes," the latter carefully said. "What about me..." he trailed away as Kenzie led Dyson out of the house as well. "Dy! What's wrong with you?"

"We need to get him to Lauren now," Bo said matter-of-factly.

"Of course," Hale nodded, as he took the unresisting Dyson from Kenzie and began to lead him to his car.

"Kenzie," Bo turned to the younger woman. "Me and Hale will be bringing to Dyson to Lauren's – once you're finished with your relatives, can you come there as well?"

Kenzie turned to face Bo, nodded once, and then began to wail, as she hugged the elder female tightly across her midsection.

"Change of plans," Bo said, slowly. "Come on, Kenzie, I'll help."

_To be concluded..._


	3. Chapter 3

**The New Order comes (conclusion)**

_Disclaimer: Some of the characters are mine, most belong to Showcase._

Needless to say, Kenzie and Bo didn't make it Lauren's clinic in any immediate amount of time; instead, they stayed there. But they didn't regret it, either.

"...So, you're Bo who has apparently saved Kenzie's life?" Kenzie's cousin, a relatively long-limbed, long-faced dark-haired man (in short, quite similar to Kenzie, at least physically). "Well, I must say that it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Don't mention it," Bo said, keeping an eye on Kenzie, who sat in the middle of four curly-haired kids, three blonde and one dark. "Got to admit, that this was something of a surprise-"

"-and not just your arrival; well, your arrival is a part of it; Kenzie's aunthood is the other, I suppose?"

"Yes," Bo said slowly. "It's, I mean, I mean I'm not so tongue-tied, usually-"

"Kenzie doesn't really admit that she likes being an aunt, not readily," her interlocutor nodded, "and since she turned eighteen we never really talk anymore. We just...don't get along. Plus, she and my wife Valya never like each other all that much."

"I haven't seen her – is she okay?" Bo said carefully.

"Oh yes – we actually sent her on a tour to the States; a sort of a birthday gift...don't ask," the man sighed, softly. "If she had heard about this, she'd never leave again – she already believes that without her the whole house will turn upside down...ask Kenzie to tell you about the cuckoo clock incident..."

"No! No cuckoo clock incident!" Kenzie literally materialized next to Bo. "We never-ever-EVER speak about it again!" she turned to Bo. "Well, the scamps are okay, so we better go and check on Dyson first. Something was wrong with him, Bo, more so than the obvious."

"Of course – he was in the grasp of one of the Old Ones from Under the Hills," Kenzie's cousin nodded in agreement.

"Um, I am probably one of them," Bo said carefully, "and so's Dyson."

Kenzie's cousin cocked his head and took a good hard look at Bo. "You saved Kenzie's life," he said firmly, "and probably mine and my children. You're not truly one of them...somehow, and neither was this man, I wager. So, consider this payment for your services to our family." She thrust something into Bo's hand, wrapped in rags.

"Um, cousin? Bo and others are Fay, not demons," Kenzie said firmly. "An amulet will not be useful-"

"It's cold iron," Kenzie's cousin smiled suddenly, sharply. "You can bet your wigs that it will be."

"Oh."

"...Bo! Kenzie... you took longer than Hale thought you two would," Lauren said, surprised. "Did something else happen?"

"Oh, no," Bo shook her head. "Kenzie just had to ensure that her family was okay."

"Were they?" Lauren asked, openly wistful.

"Yeah," Kenzie nodded, "and tell the fire-wielding witch that if she tries to burn them like she has us when we were besieged by that spider-thing... she'll be going down, hard."

"She already has," Lauren said, quietly. "Vex has almost made her kneel – that's not something taken easily in the Fay society."

"Oh. Yeah. We were there," Kenzie nodded. "So, what's wrong with Dyson? He looks okay on the surface, but that's not him in there, is it?"

"No, not really," the reply was made not by Lauren, but by a stranger, who emerged from the depths of the hospital. "Somebody did quite a number of his chakra system; he has been gutted in heart and soul."

Kenzie and Bo stared. They never saw this particular Fay in their lives, but there was something physically familiar about her all the same... "You! You're just like her, a – what did she call herself?" Kenzie snapped.

"No!" The reply was just as vehement. "I am not like her! I could've been like her, but I didn't – that's why I left- the wilderness!"

"You mean her," Bo said quietly. "You two are connected."

"Oh, just call me Lynn," the younger jezinka said, wearily. "Yes, Rogana's my mother; yes, if given a chance, she eats people – human people, but she _tortures_ the Fay. And as for how our kind reproduces – you don't want to know. Trust me. There's a reason why I fled to the Morrigan for protection – for us the maturation process practically shatters our sanity-"

"I believe you," Bo said quietly. "Mr Trick's – the Blood Sage's – book mentioned that part. Anyways, why are you here?"

"If I don't take the oath, she'll take over from me," Lauren said quietly. "She's not half bad at what she does, either."

"Thanks," Lynn said quietly, half-turned to face Lauren.

"Yeah, but you're great," Kenzie said, loyally.

"Thanks," Lauren almost blushed. Bo noticed that Lauren looked away, but before she could comment, the younger Fay spoke again:

"Anyways, uh, Hale said to tell you that he wants to speak to you later."

"And you know that how?" Kenzie asked, despite her intent not to.

"...We're dating."

Bo felt her eyebrow rise. "Is that _allowed_?"

"Certainly not encouraged," Lynn admitted. "But you know Hale – he's ready to date practically anyone who's pretty and female."

"Then this better not include Bo," Kenzie said firmly. "Or me."

"As long as he's dating me," Lynn said, with a bright smile. "That won't be a problem."

"Deal."

The Council of Elders – especially the half made-up of the local Light Fay – was not happy with Sabrina's report.

"You've disappointed us, so far, young one," one of the aforementioned Elders looked flatly at the Ash's former enforcer. "You were the last of the Ash's protégés, we thought that you were the one to counterbalance the Morrigan, if not challenge her outright. Instead, it seems that you're nowhere nearly powerful enough as we have thought."

"That's – incorrect," Sabrina said through clenched teeth. "I was on top of things, until-"

"We've read the reports, interrogated the witnesses, and from what we've heard, the Mesmer was the one winning," the Elder said flatly. "Perhaps we will give you another chance in the future, perhaps. For now...you best adhere to your regular duties instead."

'_Hale... had to be Hale. No one else could be so disloyal to me,'_ Sabrina thought, bitterly, as she left the Council's chamber behind. _'Very well, he will either pay for this or redeem himself...and what the Council doesn't know won't hurt me...'_

End


End file.
